While new cancer therapies are continuously being discovered, there remains a great need for new anti-cancer compounds and therapies, particularly for cancers such as pancreatic cancer, which is largely untreatable with current therapies.
Pancreatic cancer is one of the most enigmatic and aggressive malignant diseases facing oncologists (Black et al., Oncology 1996; 10:301–307; Cameron et al., Ann Surg 1993; 217:430–438; Doll et al., BMJ 1976; 2:1525–1536). It is now the fourth leading cause of cancer death in the USA and its incidence has significantly increased over the past 20 years (Black et al., supra; Cameron et al., supra; Doll et al., supra). Pancreatic cancer is characterized by late diagnosis, very poor prognosis and lack of an effective response to conventional therapy. The five year survival rate for this disease is less than 4% and the median survival time after diagnosis is less than 6 months (Silverberg et al., J Am Cancer Society 1990; 40: 9–26; Hunstad et al., Surg Oncol 1995; 4: 61–74; Serafini et al., Cancer Control 2000; 7: 437–444). At present, surgical resection is still the only effective treatment option, but only about 15% of carcinomas of the head of the pancreas are resectable and there are few long-term survivors even after apparent curative resection (Silverberg et al., supra; Hunstad et al., supra; Serefini et al., supra). On the other hand, chemotherapy and radiation therapy provide only limited palliation without meaningful improvement in survival in patients with non-resectable disease (Silverberg et al., supra; Hunstad et al., supra; Serefini et al., supra). Clearly, only new therapeutic strategies can improve on this dismal situation.